Aussie banks ANZ and NAB wont 'endorse' retail speculation on crypto
Categories: Crypto News US
Executives at two of Australias big four banks have ruled out allowing retail customers to trade cryptocurrency on their platforms, with one reasoning that customers dont understand basic financial well-being.Speaking at the Australian Financial Review Banking Summit on May 31 Maile Carnegie, executive for retail banking at Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) said that from speaking to retail customers she believed the vast majority of them dont understand really basic financial well-being concepts. Carnegie said ANZ had considered a cryptocurrency product from as early as 2017, adding she was “happy we didn’t go head long” into the offering.Also attending the summit was Angela Mentis, chief digital officer of National Australia Bank (NAB), who was asked if NAB would consider offering crypto trading. She answered “not in the foreseeable future and not for retail” but added there are already applications for blockchain technology for institutional clients.In March, ANZ became the first bank in Australia to mint an Australia dollar (AUD) pegged stablecoin called A$DC, and NAB is also gearing up to launch its own stablecoin, which is expected to be operational by the end of 2022. Both stablecoin projects from the big banks will initially be offered to institutional clients seeking an on-ramp for crypto investments. The pilot transaction of A$DC, for example, was a 30-million-AUD transfer.In late May, the CBA put its plans for the second pilot on hold indefinitely and cut off crypto trading to those in the first round of testing, with Comyn saying at the time the bank was still waiting on regulatory clarity.At the summit, Comyn added that if it were to proceed with the offering, the bank would look to restrict trading to those “who understand the risky asset class.”